Five Ways
by reinfleche
Summary: they got together and one way they didn't. Jean/Armin. Some spoilers for volume 13.


1.)

The first time Jean sees Armin (really sees him and not some lame kid always hanging onto Eren's coattails) is when he's looking for Marco. He remembers the two of them were in the dining hall, cleaning their gear together but when he enters the room, he only sees Armin. The younger boy's too engrossed in cleaning his own gear to notice Jean's presence. And Jean just stands there awkwardly, not sure if he should address him or just leave and see if Marco's in the dorm room but he lingers a little while longer.

Reiner once admitted that if Armin were a girl, he'd do him. Thankfully both Eren and Armin were asleep at the time but his blunt honesty had made the rest of them cringe. Standing there, he can see Reiner's logic: Armin is pretty, girly pretty. Bright blue eyes, soft blond hair.

2.)

It's been a month, a whole goddamn month since they'd burned Marco's body and tossed his ashes haphazardly. He'd at least had the privilege of telling Marco's parents what had happened. His mother had broken down at the news. His father had stood completely still, like a statue caught in the rain.

It's not even Marco's parents that really stand out as the most sombre to him. Maybe it's because he's only thought of Armin as Eren's friend, Eren's confidant that he wasn't expecting Armin to come up to him after hearing about Marco's death and offer his condolences. The thing is, it isn't like some of the other surviving recruits saying their goodbyes to Marco, it's real. It's genuine, a feeling of complete remorse coming from somewhere deep within his heart. So when he had finished off with: 'I wish I'd known him a little better,' Jean knows he means it.

3.)

He can't remember collapsing from the hit. He only remembers waking up in Armin's arms, who's shaking and holding onto him like he's his source of stability (and maybe he is now, they'd never been close during their days at the Military Academy but with Marco gone and Eren all over the place they'd have to rely on each other a lot more now.)

"Hey," he manages to rasp out. "What happened?"

At first, Armin doesn't know where the source of the voice is coming from. He looks around him and sees no one. Jean feebly reaches his hand up to Armin's arm. Surprised, Armin jerks back which makes Jean grunt in pain.

"Sorry," Armin responds, softly.

4.)

The journey back to the Wall is long and tedious. Jean lingers between consciousness and sleep (with sleep winning him over). He's bloody and beaten and Armin has to stop to make sure he hasn't slipped off the horse. He wants to be close to where Eren and Mikasa are in the chaos but he knows it's childish and selfish to abandon someone who can't stand on his own, so he sucks it up, tells the half conscious Jean to hold on to his waist so that he doesn't fall off.

Jean obliges by leaning his whole body on to Armin's back. He grunts at the excess weight and opens his mouth to protest when Jean speaks up.

"Thanks," he whispers. "You're a really good person, you know that?"

Armin's cheeks go red at the compliment.

5.)

Connie catches them doing a quick little session when the others are away from their little cabin. He stares at them for a few seconds then escapes into the yard before the two can do anything about it. Armin runs up to where Connie was and yells something about telling Levi how he'd been slacking off on his training. Hopefully, it stops Connie from blabbing to everyone about them.

The next morning, Jean spots a note tacked on to his bed.

_"RIP Jean Kirstein. He was a good friend of mine, until Eren crushed him in his Titan form."_

"Your mom's a Titan," he yells out to no one in particular, crumpling the note in his hands.

6.)

Eren takes every opportunity he can to wedge himself between him and Armin after he'd caught them making out. His tenacity is commendable, if it weren't so insufferable. It's obvious he's told Mikasa too, he can see it in the way she constantly glares at him when she thinks he's not looking.

Eren's behaviour basically escalates at meals when he always takes the seat right next to Armin, leaving Jean to sit next to him. And Mikasa always sits on the adjacent side of him. And Connie and Sasha always have to chime in with their opinion that they should just leave the two of them alone. Krista stares at them all, looking lost. Then, Levi who's had enough of the teenage love triangles puts an end to it by telling them how much he doesn't care about their problems and how they're all lucky to be alive at this point.


End file.
